42 U.S.C. § 7321 — National Energy Policy Plan

(a) Preparation by President and submission to Congress; formulation and review The President must— (1) prepare and submit to the Congress a proposed National Energy Policy Plan (later in this subchapter referred to as a “proposed Plan”) as provided in subsection (b); (2) seek the active participation of regional, State^*, and local agencies and instrumentalities and the private sector through public hearings in cities and rural communities and other appropriate means to ensure that the views and proposals of all segments of the economy are taken into account in formulating and reviewing the proposed Plan; and (3) include in the proposed Plan a comprehensive summary of data about all fuel and energy needs of people residing in— (A) areas outside standard metropolitan statistical areas; and (B) areas within standard metropolitan statistical areas that are unincorporated or that the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, specifies as rural areas. (b) Biennial transmittal to Congress; contents Not later than April 1, 1979, and biennially thereafter, the President must transmit the proposed Plan to the Congress. The proposed Plan must— (1) consider and establish energy production, utilization, and conservation objectives for five-year and ten-year periods that are necessary to satisfy the projected energy needs of the United States and meet the requirements of the general welfare of the people of the United States and the commercial and industrial life of the Nation, paying particular attention to the needs for full employment, price stability, energy security, economic growth, environmental protection, nuclear non-proliferation, special regional needs, and efficient use of public and private resources; (2) identify the strategies to follow and the resources to commit to achieve those objectives; forecast the production and investment levels needed in each significant energy supply sector and the conservation and investment levels needed in each consuming sector; and outline the appropriate Federal Government policies and actions that will maximize the private production and investment needed in each significant energy supply sector, consistent with applicable Federal, State, and local environmental laws, standards, and requirements; and (3) recommend the legislative and administrative actions necessary and desirable to achieve the objectives of the proposed Plan, including legislative recommendations about taxes or tax incentives, Federal funding, regulatory actions, antitrust policy, foreign policy, and international trade. (c) Submission of report to Congress; contents The President must submit to the Congress, together with the proposed Plan, a report that includes— (1) whatever data and analysis are necessary to support the objectives, resource needs, and policy recommendations in the proposed Plan; (2) an estimate of the domestic and foreign energy supplies on which the United States is expected to rely to meet projected energy needs economically while protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and implementing foreign policy objectives; (3) an evaluation of current and foreseeable trends in the price, quality, management, and use of energy resources and the effects of those trends on the Nation’s social, environmental, economic, and other requirements; (4) a summary of federally funded research and development efforts to forestall energy shortages, reduce waste, foster recycling, encourage conservation practices^*, and otherwise protect environmental quality, including recommendations for developing technologies for those purposes; and (5) a review and appraisal of whether the technologies, procedures, and practices—including competitive and regulatory practices—used by Federal, State, and local governments and nongovernmental entities are adequate and appropriate to achieve the purposes of the Plan. (d) Consultation with consumers, small businesses, etc. The President must ensure that consumers, small businesses, and a wide range of other interests, including individual citizens who have no financial interest in the energy industry, are consulted in developing the Plan.